Window regulator



Oct. 14, 1941. ROETHEL 2,259,083

WQINDOW REGULATOR Original Filed March 2'7, 1937' I 2 Sheets-Sheet l vINVENTOR QMQ h v-0 M ATTORN Y6.

1941- J. H. ROETHEL WINDOW REGULATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original FiledMarch 27, 1957 INVENTOR j ATTORNE 5.

Patented Oct. 14, 1941 WINDOW REGULATOR 7 John H. Roethel, Detroit,Mich, assignor to Marvel Equipment Corporation, :Detroit, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Application March 27, 1937, Serial No. 133,339Renewed November '15, 1939' (.01. cas -12s) 11 Claims.

This invention relates to window regulators suitable for use generallyin connection with windows designed to be raised and lowered, theinvention being particularly although not exclusivel-y adapted-forapplication to various types of vehicles, especially motor vehicles. a

' An object-of the invention is-to provide an improved regulatormechanism for raising and lowering a window glass or transparent panel,

Which' me'chanism is relativelysimple, compact and-economical--tomanufacture and inwhich the operation of thewindow is improvedandgreater ease in actuating the mechanism manually is achieved.

A'further object of the invention is to provide a window regulatorhavingone or aplurality of swinging arms and inwhich the arm is connected tothe lower edge of the window through the medium' of an improved rollerand guide or glass retainer structure of' simple and economicalconstruction efiective'to permit movement of the window-with greaterease through the reduction in'the friction between the relativelysliding parts.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a window controlmechanism an improved metal retainer or guide rail structure adapted tobesecure'd to' the lower edge of the-window glass or panel andcomprising op-posed members hav-- ing'yieldable-longitudinal rail orguide portions engageable by a roller or rollers, as the case may be,carriedby the-swinging regulator arm or arms, the construction andoperation being such that when upward ordownward pressure is applied toth rail or'guide portions upon raising or lowering thewindow therailportions will relatively yield or'flex under the'pressure'of the rolleror rollers thereby permitting relativelysmooth unretarded travelof "throllers along the guide rails and reducing the effort; required tooperate the window. Moreover,=when' the regulator arm orarms are atrest-the yieldable portions of the guide rails, upon release ofthepressure thereon; will spring back to normal position andyieldinglygrip'the roller or rollers thereby preventing chattering orrattling of theparts during operation of the vehicle.

Another object of the invention isto provide an eX'pansibleand'contractible guide rail structurecomprising-- opposed flexible oryieldable track membersadapted to'be embracedby and interlockedwithspaced rollers carried by a window regulator arm, the track membersbeing sufiicientlyyieldable to-be held under compression between therollers and hence capable of automatically compensating for"manufacturing var-iations prevailing in large scale production whilealso'capable of suficient yield during operation oftheregu-latortoprevent lockingof the rollers. As a consequence therollers will rotate freely during their-travel along the tracks andslight resistance to their travel will be occasioned, thereby minimizinganytendency to shiftthe window transversely inits plane as hasheretofore occurred on' account of high friction set upbetween theinterlocking'parts of-the regulator arm andchann'el on thelower edge 'ofthe window.

- Other objects ofthis invention will appear-in the followingdescription and appended claims, referencebeinghad tothe accompanyingdrawings forming a part ofthis specification wherein like referenceclriaracters' designate corresponding parts in the several views. I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly-broken away and taken from the insideof an automobile door, illustrating oneembodiment of the invention-applied thereto for raising and lowering' the windowglass. v

Fig. 2 'is an enlarged vertical section taken through lines. 2-2 of Fig.1 looking in the direction of the arrow. 7

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation showing the connectionbetween the window regulator and the retainer or guide rail structuresecured to the lower edge of the window.

Fig.4'is a perspective-view of one of the guide rail members.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a tubular compressible member which maybe employed in connection with the flexible track members.

Fig. 6 is-a fragmentary side View illustrating the method of installingthe window' with respect to the regulator.

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary'section somewhat similar to Fig. 2 illustratinga second embodiment.

' Beforeexplaining in detail the present invention it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited-in its application to thedetails of construction andarrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practicedor-carried out in various ways. Alsoit is to be understood that the phraseology orterminology employedherein is for the purpose of descriptionand'not of limitation, and it isnot intended to limit the invention claimed herein Letters Patents No.1,986,532, patented January 1, 1935, and No. 2,008,517, patented July16, 1935. It will be understood that the invention in its broaderaspects may be utilized in connection with other preferred types ofdouble arm window regulators, also ingle arm window regulators, and thatthe window regulator mechanism of the present invention may be used notonly in connection with motor vehicle bodies but various other types ofstructures, vehicular or otherw1se.

In the drawings there is shown at ID a conventional front door of anautomobil body having a main window opening closed by means of a glassand other transparent panel II. The forward and rear upright edges ofthe panel Il may be guided into and out of the window well by guides I2and I3 extending thereinto. The window Well is formed below the windowopening between the inner metal door panel I4 and the outer metal bodypanel I5.

Except as hereinafter described the parallel arm window regulator hereinillustrated, by way of example, may be constructed substantially asshown and described in my above mentioned Patent No. 2,008,517. As shownit comprises a metal mounting plate I6 secured by screws I! to the panelI4. Mounted on the mounting plate I6 is a gear I9 which may be punchedfrom a metal blank to provide a central opening. The gear of course maybe otherwise fabricated. Gear |'9 is in the form of a sector havingteeth |9a meshing with a driving pinion on handle shaft I8. Gear I9 ispivoted at 20 to rotate on the mounting plate IS. The regulator also comprises a pair of parallel swinging arms 2| and 22. The arm 2| is pivotedto swing on a stud or pivot 23 secured to the mounting plate l6 withinthe open area of gear IS. The arm or bar 22 is pivoted on the stud orpivot 20 upon which the gear I9 is pivoted, and this arm is fixed tothegear I9 not only at the pivot 20 but by a rivet 24. The outer ends ofthe parallel arms 2| and 22 carry a bar or member 25 which, by way ofexample, is substantially T-shaped in form, and the outer ends of thearms are pivoted to the bar 25 at points 26 and 21, the pivot 21 beinglocated in the lower end of the extension 25a of the bar 25. Thevertical spacing of the pivots 20 and 23 corresponds to the verticalspacing of the pivots 26 and 21 whereby the arms swing in parallelrelation during operation of the regulator. It will be understood thatthe connecting bar 25 may be designed in difierent ways and need notnecessarily take the form of a T-shaped or L-shaped bar. 7

The window regulator mechanism, such as above described, is slidinglyconnected to the lower edge of the window panel |I through the medium ofa guide and roller structure. There is fastened to the lower edge of thewindow panel II what is herein termed for convenience'a Window panelretainer structure or guide rail structure designated generally by thenumber 28 (Fig. 2).

This retainer of guide rail structure preferably comprises alongitudinal metal channel 29, which may be felt lined, rigidly securedto the lower edge of the panel. Spot welded to the rear face of thechannel 29 and depending therefrom is a rail' structure herein shown forconvenience as formed in two similar sections 30. Each guide railsection 30, as shown in Fig. 2, may comprise a strip formed of sheetmetal, such as spring sheet steel, bent or folded upon itself springtogether when the window is at rest so channel 29.

to provide vertical contiguous portions 30a and 302). These portions attheir lower edges are turned inwardly at right angles to providehorizontal track sections 300 and 30:1. The track sections, as shown inFig. 4, may be rolled longitudinally to provide curved reverselyextending ribs 30c and 30f. The opposed track members 30c and 30d arepreferably formed so as normally to extend parallel to each other andbeing spaced apart, and these members are sufficiently resilient orflexible so as to permit them to be compressed together to a greater orlesser extent and yieldable under compression at predetermined times. Ifdesired, in order to increase the spring resistance of these members tocompression forces, an elastic rubber cylinder or dowel 32 may bemounted within the cylindrical portion 3| formed by the arcuate ribs3lle and 30 As herein shown the guide carried by the channel 29 isformed in two longitudinally spaced similar sections 30, eachconstructed as above described. It may, however, be formed in one lengthand notched out to provide a space for assembly purposes correspondinglyto space 50. Cooperating with each of the track sections 30 are a pairof opposed grooved rollers 33 and 34 spaced apart in a verticaldirection. Each pair of rollers is mounted at an end of the horizontalbar 25. The upper roller 33 of each pair is revolubly mounted upon astud 35 riveted to bar 25 and each lower roller 35 of each pair isrevolubly mounted upon a stud 36 riveted to the bar 25. Thus the groovedrollers of each pair engage the curved rail portions 30c and 301 atopposite sides of the track, these portions fitting into the annulargrooves of the rollers and hence provide an interlocking connectionbetween the tracks and rollers preventing displacement or disengagementof the rollers during operation.

The regulator may be assembled with the window panel II in the mannershown in Fig. 6. The regulator is cranked to its lowest position and thewindow is slid vertically upon the guides I2 and I3 to the bottom of thewell causing one pair of rollers to pass vertically between the tracksections 30 into the space and the other pair of rollers to pass by theend of one of the track sections 30 until the rollers are lined up withthe rails 30c and 30f. Thereupon the window regulator is crankedupwardly so as to propel the rollers upon the rails. In practice afterassembly of the regulator a suitable stop is provided on the regulatorfor limiting downward movement of the window to a position such as shownin Fig. 1 whereby the rollers are prevented from running off the ends ofthe tracks.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 7 the bar 25 carries at each end asingle roller 3'! revolubly mounted upon a stud riveted to the end ofthe bar 25. Each track section comprises a sheet metal or spring steelstrip 38 bent upon itself to provide upper and lower horizontal tracksections 4| and 39 respectively. The rolled metal strip 38 is spotwelded to the back face of the The track section 39 is rolled to providean upstanding groove orarcuate rib 40 and the track section 4| is rolledto provide a corresponding downwardly extending curved or arcuate rib42. The ribs 40 and 42 are opposed to each other and vertically spacedso as to provide rails engaging opposite sides of each grooved roller31. These track sections are resilient and yieldable under compressionforces so as to be sprung apart during operation and adapted to geegose:

that. either 'o'r bothtrack sections will at all times yielding lyengage the roller under 'sufficient pressureto hold the parts" againstrattling orvibrational noises.

I In the operation otthe device shown in Fig.

2', it will be seen that when the :a'rmsZl and 22- are swung down tolower" the windowdownward forces will b'e applied by rollers 33f-to"'therail sections 306 thereby tending to compress the latter and 'yieldinglycontract the parts 30c and 30); also tending to drop the roller-S 134:away from the ran sections 39'). The upper rollers will travel freelyalong the rails with practically no frictional resistance. are swung;upwards the compression forces willbe appliedby rollers 34" against thebottom rail sections 30]- and the reverse of the above operation willtake place. It will 'alsobe seen that the compressiblerailf'siectionswill accommodate variations in-the clearance spacesbetween the grooved rollers. These-slight variations invariablyoccurin'large scale'production where tolerancesrare allowed and alsowhere slight manufacturing inaccuracies occur. Therefore by virtue ofthis flexible track structure it is possible to fix the pivots of therollers, but at the same time to secure a snug fit of the rails withinthe grooves of the rollers. This snug fit, however, is yieldable so asto prevent the rollers from becoming locked which in turn would preventor impede the free rotation thereof as they move back and forth onto thetrack. Not only does this construction prevent locking of the rollers onthe tracks but it permits an extremely smooth and easy operation of theregulator, avoiding the necessity of increasing the gear ratio asheretofore in order to give the necessary extra power to oifset thefriction, as heretofore, of tight fitting studs travelling in guideways.The easy relatively frictionless operation of the rollers along thetrackways also prevents shifting the window in its plane in an endwisedirection which results in undue pressure of one edge of the glass onone of the guides l2 or l3 which heretofore has made the window harderto raise and lower.

In the operation of the device shown in Fig. '7 the upward pressure ofthe roller 31 when the window is raised, as shown by the arrow, tends tospring the rail 42 upwards sufficiently to separate the roller from thelower rail 46 thereby permitting the roller to travel freely along thetrack. The opposite action takes place when the window regulator islowered, the roller at this time pressing downwardly upon the rail 40and springing it slightly away from the upper rail 42. When the windowregulator is at rest the track sections will tend to spring together andyieldingly hold the roller so that no rattling will take place. Asimilar action occurs in connection with the device of Fig. 2, whichaction may be amplified, if desired, by using the resilient rubber core32. The use of the part 32 is, however, optional. When the regulator isat rest, the expansion of the track sections 300 and 30d tend to clampthe rollers and hold them against rattling during operation of thevehicle. Due to the yield of the members 42 and 49 it will also be seenthat these members will accommodate slight variations in the diameter ofthe rollers 31 and also in the location thereof with respect to theguideways, particularly in cases where the rollers and guideways do notexactly line up when the regulator is installed due to variationsincident to manufacturing tolerances or inaccuracies. This same When thearms 2i and 22 advantage is apparent in the: use'lof the embodi-. mentof: Figs. I to 6 inclusive.

11 m a window control mechanism, thecombination of a swinging regulatorarm having a pair of vertically opposed rollers mounted thereon; andaguidemember adapted to be secured to the lower edge of the window andcomprising opposed relativelyyieldable tracks held undercompressionbetween said'rollers.

2. The combination with a window regulator comprising am'em'ber'having asliding connec tionwiththe lower edge of a window, apair ofparallelis'winging arms pivotally connected to -member at po-iI-itsspaced one above the other"; and means for swinging the arms, saidconnectionbornp rising vertically opposed relatively yieldable trackmembers on the window and longitudinally spaced-pair's of opposedrollers embracingflthetrack membersand eifective to hold thesame undercompression.

3, A- window panel retainer structure comprising a m'etal' strip adaptedto be securedto the lower edge of the panel and a roller guide membercarried by said strip including a pair of vertically opposed relativelyyieldable track members, and a compressible element interposed betweensaid members.

4. A window panel retainer structure adapted. to be secured to the loweredge of the panel, comprising a longitudinally extending pair ofsubstantially horizontal track members spaced apart to permit them tospring together or apart, said members being formed with longitudinalgrooves facing each other, and a compressible element confined in saidgrooves.

5. The combination with a swinging regulator arm having roller meansadjacent the outer end thereof, of a window panel retainer structurecomprising a metal strip adapted to be secured to the lower edge of thepanel and a roller guide member carried. by said strip including a pairof vertically opposed relatively yieldable track members grooved toprovide interlocking alternate engagement with said roller means whenthe window panel is raised and lowered and to provide simultaneousrelatively tight engagement with said roller means when the panel is atrest.

6. The combination with a swinging regulator arm having roller meansadjacent the outer end thereof, of a window panel retainer structurecomprising a metal strip adapted to be secured to the lower edge of thepanel and a roller guide member carried by said strip including a pairof vertically opposed relatively yieldable track members spaced for thereception therebetween of said roller means and alternately engaged bysaid roller means when the window panel is raised and lowered, both ofsaid track members providing a relatively tight yieldable engagementwith said roller means when the panel is at rest.

7. In a window control mechanism, the combination of a swingingregulator arm having a pair of upper and lower spaced rollers mountedthereon, and a guide member adapted to be secured to the lower edge ofthe window and comprising opposed relatively yieldable tracks embracedby said rollers and alternately engaged by the rollers when the windowis raised and lowered.

8. In a window control mechanism, the combination of a swingingregulator arm having a pair of upper and lower spaced grooved rollersmounted thereon, and a guide member adapted to be secured to the loweredge of the window and comprising vertically opposed relativelyyieldable tracks embraced by said rollers and interlocked therewith, theupper roller engaging the upper track and the lower roller being free ofthe lower track when the window is lowered and vice versa.

9. In a window control mechanism, the combination of a swingingregulator arm having roller means mounted at its outer end, and a.retainer structure adapted to be secured to the lower edge of a windowpanel and comprising opposed tracks embracing said roller means andinterlocked therewith, each track being yieldable in a verticaldirection relative to the other and said tracks adapted to yieldinglygrip said roller means when said panel is at rest, said roller meansengaging the upper track only when the window is raised and engaging thelower track only when the window is lowered.

10. In a window control mechanism including a swinging arm and means forswinging the arm, the combination of a member having a slidingconnection with the lower edge of a window panel and adapted to bepivotally connected to the outer end of said arm, said connectioncomprising vertically opposed track members and roller means cooperablewith one track member only when the arm is swung to raise the window andwith the other track member only when the arm is swung to lower thewindow, each track being yieldable in a vertical direction relative tothe other and said tracks adapted to yieldingly grip said roller meanswhen said panel is at rest.

11. In a window control mechanism including a swinging arm and means forswinging the arm, the combination therewith of a sliding connectionbetween the outer end of said arm and the lower edge of a window panel,said connection comprising vertically opposed track members and rollermeans cooperable with one track member only when the arm is swung toraise the panel and with the other track member only when the arm isswung to lower the panel, each track being .yieldable in a verticaldirection relative to the other and said tracks adapted to yieldinglygrip said roller means when said panel is at rest.

JOHN H. ROETHEL.

